World News - Symbolic Transfer Underway in Lebanon Israeli army says it has transferred area near the border to Lebanese and U.N. troops

The Israeli army turned over a small border area in south Lebanon to Lebanese and foreign troops Thursday, a symbolic move paving the way for U.N. peacekeepers to go into the volatile area.The pullback came as an international donors conference in Sweden pledged nearly $1 billion to help Lebanon rebuild, after the country's prime minister told the gathering that Israel's war with Hezbollah wiped out "15 years of postwar development."Israel sent up to 30,000 soldiers into Lebanon during the 34-day war, and when the fighting ended they occupied a zone extending about 10 miles north from the border.Since the U.N.-brokered cease-fire took effect Aug. 14, Israel has been slowly transferring control of the area to Lebanese troops, who will be bolstered by U.N. troops equipped with tanks, howitzers and other heavy weapons not usually seen with a peacekeeping force.... http://www.cbsnews.com

U.S. and Alaskan authorities on Thursday demanded $92.2 million from Exxon Mobil for environmental damages linked to the 1989 Exxon Valdez incident.The Alaska Department of Law and the U.S. Department of Justice made the demand for environmental damage not covered in a 1991 $900 million settlement with Exxon. The 1991 settlement allowed the state and federal government to seek additional damages not foreseen at the time of the settlement. The agencies had until Friday to make their demand of Exxon Mobil, the successor company to Exxon. Alaska and federal officials said in May they would seek additional damages. "This was a formal step that's required under the consent decree," said Deputy Alaska Attorney General Craig Tillery. ...http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2381871

Israeli police commandos stormed the British Embassy in Tel Aviv late Thursday and captured a Palestinian man who had been holed up inside for eight hours, claiming to have a gun and demanding political asylum. There were no injuries. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the forces seized the man after he laid down his weapon for a split second to eat food they had given him. After the arrest, authorities discovered the weapon was plastic. "We took into consideration that he did have a pistol and possibly other materials and therefore every precaution was taken," he said. The man also was carrying large amounts of money, Rosenfeld said. Embassy spokeswoman Karen Kaufman said the police operation was coordinated with British officials, in line with diplomatic protocols. ...http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/08/31/israel.uk.embassy.ap/index.html?section=cnn_world

The United States is set to test key parts of its emerging antimissile shield over the Pacific Thursday, officially to collect data, but with the possibility that a target dummy warhead will be shot down.The $85 million exercise is the first involving a live target since interceptor rockets failed to leave their silos during tests in December 2004 and February 2005.It is also the first since the ground-based system, which is part of a layered shield that includes naval and aerial components, was activated to guard against ballistic missiles test-fired on July 4 and 5 by North Korea.Boeing Co. is prime contractor for the ground-based mid-course defense, as the backbone is known. Major subcontractors include Lockheed Martin Corp., Northrop Grumman Corp. and Raytheon Co....http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/08/31/missile.test.reut/index.html?section=cnn_us

Known for its massive ice sheets, Greenland is feeling the effects of global warming as rising temperatures have expanded the island's growing season and crops are flourishing. For the first time in hundreds of years, it has become possible to raise cattle and start dairy farms. Ferdinand Egede would be a perfectly normal farmer if it weren't for that loud cracking noise. Wearing a plaid lumberjack shirt and overalls, he hurries through the precise rows of his potato field, beads of sweat running down his forehead. Egede, 49, occasionally picks up a handful of earth and rubs it between his solid fingers, but he isn't at all satisfied with the results. "It's much too dry," he says. "If I don't get the irrigation going, I'll lose my harvest."...http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/spiegel/0,1518,434356,00.html

Insurgents killed at least 61 Iraqis on Thursday, including 14 in a car bomb attack on a popular Baghdad market, as the government prepared to take full command of its own military. At least 43 were killed when a series of seven rocket and bomb attacks were launched almost simultaneously against Shiite and Christian districts of Baghdad shortly before the nightly curfew, security officials said. A car bomb went off in the southern neighbourhood of Al-Amin, killing 14 people and wounding 38, including six women, a medic at Al-Kindi hospital said. Sunni extremists often target markets to kill civilians who venture out to buy household goods before the dusk-to-dawn curfew begins. Six more explosive devices, including rockets, detonated in three areas, of which two were in the Shiite bastion of Sadr City, the security official said. At least 29 people were killed in these attacks ...http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2006-08-31-iraq-security_x.htm?csp=34